mikewj
09-07-2004, 03:47
June 10th - June 11th
Memory blank.....rebooting....ah yes.....I remember now, it was a Thursday.
The exertions of the previous few days had certainly taken their toll on the older ladies (For the record they are 69 (Renee) and 75 (Ivy)) so we decided that this day would be a day be spent doing what they enjoy the most....shopping. And this trip was taking us all to a place we'd never been to before, the Mall at the Millenia.
So far, we'd only driven past it a couple of times and read the reports about the shops in the forum, so following a lazy breakfast, we jumped into the Grand Caravan and sped up I4 in search of the place.
We arrived at around 11am. The sun was high, and so was the temperature.
Even with the aircon turned on full, the car was getting hot and so it was a real pleasure to get into the air conditioning of Macy's department store. Outnumbered and outgunned, we made our way through
ladies formalwear and almost made it to the lift (elevator) before a shop assistant managed to cut us off, pleading with us to let her help us. We took pity on this poor dishevelled thing, who looked like
she'd not had a customer in weeks, and respectfully asked where the baby clothes could be found.
With a look of gratitude, she pointed towards the lift and beamed 'up on the second floor.....and here's a voucher for 15% off anything storewide'.
After exploring the baby/children's department without buying anything, we decided that it was time to leave and explore the rest of the mall.
It didn't take too long to see another visitor, and soon they could be spotted in isolated groups, up and down the aisles (but not in many shops). As noon approached, the mall became a hive of activity as nearly 60 people could be seen wandering aimlessly, staring into the shop windows, re-enacting scenes from Romero's Dawn of the Dead.
We finished the walk along the top level, pausing only for me to ogle the array of dv camcorders available at Futuretronics, before descending to the lower level in search of the Cheesecake Factory.
Like some latter day Holy Grail, the search for this establishment had been burned into my soul by forum contributors too numerous to name. This information had been passed onto the other
members of our group, who were, by now, in dire need of a sit down and a cup of tea.
Sidetracked by Godiva's chocolate shop which offered free samples of its delicious chocolate dipped fruits, we finally made our way to the middle of the mall and located the Cheesecake Factory.
Expecting to simply buy some cheesecake and leave, I was surprised when Renee suggested that we have something proper to eat. I was even more surprised by the sumptuous feast that we were presented with. Unfortunately, this left little room for the promised cheesecake, which was ordered 'to go'.
We left the restaurant and continued through the mall, wondering why the number of people eating outweighed the number of people shopping, but after considering the prices in some of the shop
windows, we worked out the answer.
A brief visit to the Apple shop to sneer at the I-Pods and play with the I-Macs later, and we were away, aircon on full, cheesecake held up in front of the vents and full speed back to the villa.
The rest of the day was spent enjoying the pool and for some, watching the Lifetime Channel, which was celebrating some sort of anniversary and broadcasting some sad film about about an adoption starring Andrew McCarthy (why do I remember this kind of stuff ?!).
Nothing really happened that night, suffice to say that Mr McCarthy won his court battle, we drank a little wine (and beer) and turned in, excited about the prospect of visiting Islands of Adventure the following day.
The trip to Islands of Adventure was our first without the Golden Girls. They decided that it was too hot and would involve too much walking (and had probably seen the Lifetime Channel's Friday schedule) and so would stay in the villa and rest.
And so myself, Sue and Conell set out on our first family trip
Memory blank.....rebooting....ah yes.....I remember now, it was a Thursday.
The exertions of the previous few days had certainly taken their toll on the older ladies (For the record they are 69 (Renee) and 75 (Ivy)) so we decided that this day would be a day be spent doing what they enjoy the most....shopping. And this trip was taking us all to a place we'd never been to before, the Mall at the Millenia.
So far, we'd only driven past it a couple of times and read the reports about the shops in the forum, so following a lazy breakfast, we jumped into the Grand Caravan and sped up I4 in search of the place.
We arrived at around 11am. The sun was high, and so was the temperature.
Even with the aircon turned on full, the car was getting hot and so it was a real pleasure to get into the air conditioning of Macy's department store. Outnumbered and outgunned, we made our way through
ladies formalwear and almost made it to the lift (elevator) before a shop assistant managed to cut us off, pleading with us to let her help us. We took pity on this poor dishevelled thing, who looked like
she'd not had a customer in weeks, and respectfully asked where the baby clothes could be found.
With a look of gratitude, she pointed towards the lift and beamed 'up on the second floor.....and here's a voucher for 15% off anything storewide'.
After exploring the baby/children's department without buying anything, we decided that it was time to leave and explore the rest of the mall.
It didn't take too long to see another visitor, and soon they could be spotted in isolated groups, up and down the aisles (but not in many shops). As noon approached, the mall became a hive of activity as nearly 60 people could be seen wandering aimlessly, staring into the shop windows, re-enacting scenes from Romero's Dawn of the Dead.
We finished the walk along the top level, pausing only for me to ogle the array of dv camcorders available at Futuretronics, before descending to the lower level in search of the Cheesecake Factory.
Like some latter day Holy Grail, the search for this establishment had been burned into my soul by forum contributors too numerous to name. This information had been passed onto the other
members of our group, who were, by now, in dire need of a sit down and a cup of tea.
Sidetracked by Godiva's chocolate shop which offered free samples of its delicious chocolate dipped fruits, we finally made our way to the middle of the mall and located the Cheesecake Factory.
Expecting to simply buy some cheesecake and leave, I was surprised when Renee suggested that we have something proper to eat. I was even more surprised by the sumptuous feast that we were presented with. Unfortunately, this left little room for the promised cheesecake, which was ordered 'to go'.
We left the restaurant and continued through the mall, wondering why the number of people eating outweighed the number of people shopping, but after considering the prices in some of the shop
windows, we worked out the answer.
A brief visit to the Apple shop to sneer at the I-Pods and play with the I-Macs later, and we were away, aircon on full, cheesecake held up in front of the vents and full speed back to the villa.
The rest of the day was spent enjoying the pool and for some, watching the Lifetime Channel, which was celebrating some sort of anniversary and broadcasting some sad film about about an adoption starring Andrew McCarthy (why do I remember this kind of stuff ?!).
Nothing really happened that night, suffice to say that Mr McCarthy won his court battle, we drank a little wine (and beer) and turned in, excited about the prospect of visiting Islands of Adventure the following day.
The trip to Islands of Adventure was our first without the Golden Girls. They decided that it was too hot and would involve too much walking (and had probably seen the Lifetime Channel's Friday schedule) and so would stay in the villa and rest.
And so myself, Sue and Conell set out on our first family trip